Life's little luxuries

Today I woke up at 430. First thing I do, is haul my self out of bed, and switch on the lights. I heard the 'tick' sound, but was still in dark. Hmm. I remembered. Last night it was lightning so hard, it might have made the trip switch off. I went there and, yes it was off. I pulled it up, and was still in dark.

I looked around. Usually my neighbors are up at this time, and I heard them talking, in dark. Duh.

I slept last night around 830, exhausted by a weary day of work. And the immediate thought came to my mind was 'this would be a bad day'.

I switched the flash light of my ever reliable Samsung Hero phone, and went to wash room. I turned on the tap, and water came gushing through my finger tips. I marveled at it for few seconds. Then I washed my face. I felt happy, peaceful. These things, electricity and water have become so common, and I hardly appreciate them. But these little moments, when they get absent, with out warning, we understand what 'luxuries' we have, unnoticed in the mad rush of life.

I sat down, smiling, " life ain't that bad ".

We left a bit early today, no cooking, aiming to eat out.

And when I came to Katubedda junction, the color lights were not working. Even with the thin traffic in that early hour, still people were mad, with out color lights. How many times have I cursed traffic lights before ? Huh. As I moved towards Ratmalana, I could see lights & colour lights in their glory. Oh how I took these for granted. 

Rating for Movies shown in Sri Lanka?

"Rating for movies shown in Sri Lanka?" This was the question asked by Robin, a British volunteer at Fusion. I said " I am not sure, Why?"

He explained. He went to Savoy to watch 'Hansel and Gretel' and was horrified to see small children (Age 4-5) in the audience. According to him, the movie has violence worse than 'Django Unchained'. And he had seen children crying during the interval.

And I quote Robin again " I can understand theaters in Sri Lanka showing public announcements  against smoking. But what about violence? And no rating ? "

Food for thought. Leave aside theaters, it's up to parents to be aware and be understood about the movie before purchasing tickets.

Go to imdb.com, type ' Hansel and Gretel ' and you'd see a R rating, and reasons why it is so. Even 'Madagascar' has a PG rating. Hmm.

Pic courtesy: moviechopshop.com 

Sri Siddhartha Gautama

On the movie

Good to see right blend of technology in a Lankan movie. Glad to see Indian, Lankan collaboration. Nice to see an age old story been recreated with minimum controversies. A great effort.

Many don't like the slow pace of this movie. I liked it, because the slowness of story line, sinks in the struggle of the prince, up until his departure from worldly affairs. The movie briefly shows Siddhartha's 6 year journey from departure from his palace up until enlightenment. Yet, the movie mainly carries the life of the prince, not of Buddha. Creating the life of prince and his struggle to make terms with things he was forced to, is wonderfully recreated. I enjoyed the novel 'Buddha' by Deepak Chopra, because it projected the real vulnerable prince in confusion. This movie comes so close in projecting those emotions well. But there were issues with casting. Overall I am happy for the movie, and to see 'houseful' signs at Sri Lanka cinema halls for a Lankan movie. Here's the list of halls, show times and contact numbers.

On the cinema hall

Tower Cinema Hall at Moratuwa was a disaster. 'Cattle shed' is the best title I can give. yes - ODC is Rs.100, balcony is Rs.130, and parking is just Rs. 20. 

But, BUT, they can't really make patrons sweat like pigs? Let seats crack and cushions to come out? To have a sound system that my mother cannot really understand most of the words? Not to maintain at-least the existing exhaust fans? Atleast make effort to rotate their age old fans?

For goodness sake, the shows are houseful, ordinary people are buzzing around cinema gates to get in. They come in van loads, the whole families, to enjoy a Lankan movie !

When was the last time that happened in Sri Lanka? 

Anyways, enjoyed a movie, with parents, despite bitter life conditions. :)

Hats off to the producers of the movie.

'Kadal' to 'Vishwaroopam'. Madness.

As politicians & religious leaders are busy deciding whether we should watch Vishwaroopam or not, I write this to put forward a simple view.

I watched 'Kadal' yesterday. I am amazed why Christians did not protest about it. That movie seriously looks deeply in to humanity through life around church in a coastal village in Southern India. It has lot of humour and at the start, Christianity gets a battering (Or it assumes, for dramatic intent). So why not ban 'Kadal' as well.

Then why ' Sankhara' and ' Suriya Arana' was not banned? Both revolves around Buddhism, and talks on sensitive issues: Former on sexuality of a monk and later on how poverty makes poor people stray away from values and principles.

Anyways, it is sad that creative interpretation of things that matters to people, get blocked by people have no idea how a common man struggles to live.

And oh, if you are sick about this racial crap, watch 'Oh my God'. 100% honest movie - makes you think, out of your box - out of your religion.

'Kadal' - The sea

It's released here in Sri Lanka, parallel to India on Feb 01st.

I saw it today thanks to seeing a tweet from Arun, who happened to see it yesterday. Then he provided me details about the cinema hall (EROS, Pamankada) and show times. Otherwise there's no way to find details on web. So thanks Arun!

@isura show times 10.30pm, 2.30pm and 6.30pm. Not sure of booking but there were too many free seats yesterday. @twitsath
— R.Arunothayan (@Me_ArunR) February 2, 2013

And I had been told over phone by theatre that they have a 930 pm show. (Guess it is only on weekends, please verify that)

@isura 0112365030 - Eros Theatre Number. Talk to them and see bro, not sure of weekend bookings!
— R.Arunothayan (@Me_ArunR) February 2, 2013

I Liked the movie. Story was moving, never a boring gap.

Most importantly, Mani Ratnam is a director, who's down to earth. I cannot find fake, made up fluffy dolls in his movies. He creatively brings out real characters, closer to our region, in their authentic flavour. (Bollywood is mostly fake wannabe Hollywood characters, with no spec of reality.

The story revolves around a battle between Good and evil. All the characters have a grey element. Neither 100% good nor 100% evil. Movie projects that compassion can smooth grudges and life can be re-started at any point, if one wishes to.

Beautiful movie. Great music (Rahman does it again - a maestro in every sense). 

This is my first time at Eros cinema. Lots of chatter and yelling. Signs of superb movie loving audience. Absolutely enjoyed the whole experience (Not just the movie)

And oh, the official trailer above is meh. It does not capture the essence of movie. Not at all. Glad that I did not see it before seeing the movie. Otherwise, I would not have watched it. So don't judge this movie by its trailer :)

Let me know your thoughts, if you do see it.

Django Unchained

It is one hell of a movie. 'Hell' is for 2 things. One for its wonderful story telling. Two is for its' gross depiction of the hell, that America was, during the period of slavery.

Watch it at your own discretion. Violence is shown in the most detailed form, that it took me hours to get out of sombre feelings. But I learned something valuable. The slave trade did not happen because whites were superior. It happened because blacks admitted whites were superior. One stand, One man, against the tide, is the difference between , I mean, everything.

Power packed movie. Great pack of actors. Can't ask for more. In-fact too much.

Wisdom from Rizana's mother

Rizana's mother - Ms.Rafeena Nafeek

I read a post from BBC titled "Sri Lanka's Rizana Nafeek: Mother forgives Saudi beheading".

And here I extract few quotes from Rizana's mother. We have many things to learn and think.

There's no point in blaming anyone - Rizana has gone 

We only got to know [about] her execution from the media. They [the Saudi authorities] should have at least told us about it.

Even our request to get her body to Sri Lanka was refused.
Mrs Nafeek urged other impoverished families not to send their daughters for domestic work in Saudi Arabia or anywhere else.

Instead she said that they should educate their children, a wish that Rizana had expressed for her own young siblings before her death.

Read the full post here 

Pic courtesy: BBC

Sarath, you'll be deeply missed.

I ve met SARATH only once. But feels like known him for ages. Never heard any negative comment bout him from his circles...lessons for life.
— isura(@isura) January 20, 2013

Today, I've made my final respect for Sarath, very early in the morning. I've talked to his wife (Roshini) and his mother's sister (aunty Devi). The reason for me to pay respect for this wonderful human being is explained above in my tweet.

I went to Coco in 2010, just to see what the heck this place was, because I never seen any restaurant been tweeted that much, almost venerated by the patrons. There I realized why people come to Coco. It's not just the food, it is the pool of energy swirled around Sarath, that people engaged in. 

When I listened to his wife and aunty today, I understood how peaceful this man was with such diversity around him. He was devoted to his enterprise, and staff just adore him. Blessed with a beautiful family, he made them all feel energetic. He may have left us at early age of 39, but I can see his legacy continuing and his energy flowing - through the people he had touched. 

I learned a lot today,  on how a life should be spent. Thanks Sarath for the wonderful life, you lived, which is the message you are leaving with us. Good Bye.

You may pay your respects from 20th January 2013 till 3pm on the 21st at 96 Barnes Place, Colombo 7. yfrog.com/h8uc7yokj
— Coco Veranda (@cocoveranda) January 20, 2013

Cremation will be held on 21 January 2013 at 4.30 PM at the General Cemetery, Borella, Hindu Section.
— Coco Veranda (@cocoveranda) January 20, 2013

Friends, in case you missed, there'll be a twitter-pause of 1hour beginning at 4.30pm (11.00 GMT) to honor our beloved friend @sarathsc #lka
— Gopiharan Perinpam (@gopiharan) January 21, 2013

Intellectual discussions Vs Direct Apprehension

It's very easy to attach and posses by intellectual discussions, to avoid direct apprehension of our lives.

If we get lost in these distractions, we would loose the chance of facing our emotions and passions in their rude raw reality.

If we do not go in to the root cause of our unpleasant and painful emotions and feelings, we will become lost in extreme pleasure and pain, mistaking their common appearance to be permanent.

Pic Credit: Peter Booth

Mobile for development

Info-graphic by World bank below shows the potential of Mobiles for development. The one thing I am passionate about. Here's the link to their site.